Tuesday, July 28, 2009

But, all things considered, I was not terribly obese, at 153 lbs, having just had my second baby 5.5 months earlier, I was considered "normal", dodging comments like "you'll lose the weight soon" and "you just had a baby".

But, I kid you not, I felt fat, and was.

My hips made me waddle, my thighs rubbed together a lot more than I recalled, I had sandbags for biceps. It wasn't good.

So, after being 153 for a few months, having not shed a pound (ok, I wasn't eating properly, it's a wonder I didn't GAIN), I thought I'd take it into my own hands.

I had to do something!

I decided to join Weight Watchers Online on May 28, 2009. I didn't want to pay for meetings that I couldn't attend, with being a mom of two after all, and despite the fact I didn't want to pay for something online that I didn't know what I was getting in return, I was hesitant.

But I did it anyway, and this is where it got me...

I weighed in last Thursday, July 23, at 132 lbs. I'd lost 21 pounds in 8 weeks.

How did I manage to lose this much, in a relatively short amount of time?

One: I'm a perfectionist. I like rules. I follow them.

There are no hard rules on the Weight Watcher's program. You're given a total daily points value, each food has points, add them up, make sure you're not over your daily points. You get extra weekly points to use as you see fit during the week, to use up daily or in one shot. You get activity points for the exercise you do during the week, which you can also exchange for food points. Not using up all your WP or AP doesn't guarantee you'll lose more weight but it is encouraged to use them up.

I've been pretty good at using up my WP, with all the summer BBQs and gatherings this summer, but I do try to mostly use up only my DP, as I know I can get carried away with eating if I "let go".

I've been pretty happy with what I'm eating day to day. Lots of fruits and salads, whole grains. I do need to add more veggies than I'm currently eating, but that will come in time. Hydrating is challenging and is a contant battle to up my water intake. I've had to limit my starch intake (I love rice and breads!) and cut out butter in my diet (so sad...). I'm working on slowly adding back in limited amounts of guilty desserts, but I don't want to tempt myself, so I'm happy to just cut them out for now.

My ultimate goal is to return to my 120 lb frame -- my "blushing bride" days, if you will. Here's a pic to remind myself what I mean:

Right now, I'm working my way, slowly, to 130lb, when I promised I would buy myself a netbook, a little gift for losing 23 pounds and breaking through the 140's and arriving at the bottom 130's/top 120's.

I'm almost there. I few more kickboxing classes and some more time on my treadmill will help me, as well as supportive family.

I recently tried on an old pair of size 8 jeans, which magically fit me! My size 12 jeans now hang in my closet, collecting dust.

Tanya and Jeff of Veridamo Photography is raising funds for the Vancouver Food Bank. Their premise: photograph 200 children and print a collection of their photographs in a coffee table book entitled Kids of Vancouver. A tax-deductible $100 donation is made to the Food Bank, and in lieu, they photograph the family in idyllic Vancouver parkland, beaches, etc (but only the kids make the book!) and the coffee table book, out by Christmas, will be available for sale, proceeds going back to the Food Bank.

It's a win-win situation. We get family photos taken, and the local Food Bank gets much needed funds to function.

We're scheduled for the Saturday morning of August 22nd.

Now, I have to go shopping for outfits, seeing that I don't think we have anything coordinated between the four of us!

Friday, July 3, 2009

I told myself I wasn't going to shop online for a while. I mean, I haven't even received my Cake Beauty order in yet, and now I've made another order somewhere else!

But they were handbags, so what's a girl to do?

Have you heard of Beyond The Rack? Their catchphrase is "Luxury Brands at Exclusive Prices". It's a private online shopping club for men and women for brands up to 70% off retail value. Sales vary practically daily and last only 48 hours. Membership is free, but it's by invitation only (if you want an invite...email me or leave me a comment and I'll send you an invite! Or register using my personal invitation code NCM4E08405D - copy and paste!)

I've seen Gucci sunglasses on their list recently, as well as some high-end watches, and various men's and ladies' apparel that I can't remember which label they were from. I'm so slow on the ball, that A LOT of things get sold out before I decide to check out the site (due to temptation, I try and hold out checking, but ultimately do so).

So, I'm leery on buying any clothes online, since I don't have the perfect body (surprise!) and can't judge for certain that I'm not going to look hideous in it, so I check out the site for accessories.

Well, Smash accessories are on sale right now and since I had a $15 credit (it was like I was getting the shipping and taxes free...always looking for that loophole bargain...LOL!), I selected these two bags:

Cute, huh?

They're 18" wide and 10" tall, so, unless I'm really confused this morning, they're quite generously sized. I thought I could double-duty these and use these as smaller diaper bags if I were going out somewhere close-by. I mean, it's not nearly as large as the Reese Li bag I posted about earlier, or as expensive, but it's something different and fun.

They retail for $80 each but I got the black and white bag for $32 and the second, the flower duffle bag, for $29. With my "practically free" shipping (ok, I paid "60 cents"), two bags for $61.

I did hesitate on this sale, though. It's a little harder for me to part with $60 online, although you would think it would be easier with all the online shopping I do, but for me it's harder. But put me in an actual store? I could slap that credit card down real fast! So, I got to thinking...if I were faced with these two bags in a store, at these prices, would I buy them...hell, ya! Sometimes, my reasoning skills get the best of me, and I'm not necessarily the better for them, and most certainly not the richer!

Thursday, July 2, 2009

I haven't had the time to blog much, and although I've been tweeting occasionally, it's not nearly enough to feed my online addiction.

What has been happening recently?

1) I recently bought a webcam a couple of days ago so that I can Skype with out-of-town family members. I really wanted to use it to Skype with my brother but turns out his own computer is infected and he hasn't had it looked at yet, and he can't download anything onto his Work laptop. So the only person I've Skyped with is my cousin and daughter who happen to only live 10 blocks away! At least I know the darn thing works!

This webcam will at least tie me over until I buy that netbook I've been craving the past few weeks.

2) I officially weighed in at 138 lbs this morning, marking a 15-lb weight loss since going on this Weight Watchers journey 5 weeks ago. I have this weekly ritual when I weigh myself each Thursday: I nurse the Mr. B when he starts to squawk at 6:30ish, use the washroom, strip down naked (my wristwatch included!) and then weigh myself, crossing my fingers hoping I somehow learned to magically levitate on the scale even for a brief second.

I've had a few BBQs to go to recently, with a couple this week alone (Happy Canada Day yesterday!), and I managed to eat healthy or at least portion control each time. I'm pretty damn proud of myself, if I do say so. After months of not losing anything, being on this program has really made me realize that I don't need food when I'm bored or stressed, the two occasions that happen to often overlap each other often several times a day. I'm trying to think of food as fuel, paying attention to my satiety signals and eating more fibrous foods to give me that "full" feeling. Also helps that I'm exercising more, which brings me to my next update...

3) I'm able to run a lot better on my treadmill compared to when I started. I used to be able to run for 45 min continuously at an average 6.2 mi/hr but found it disappointing when I could only run for 1 minute at 5.0 mi/hr! I'm now up to a 3 min run with a 1 min walk in between sets. My goal right now is to be able to run 30 min straight, then I'll work on speed. I'm trying to work my way back to road running, and perhaps next year get a few more races under my belt.

4) Meanwhile, I've started my kickboxing class this past Monday and it was great! The warm up was a killer, and I could definitely see the classes helping me tone up. Today is the first day that I can't feel my glutes tightening up as I walk! My back muscles is still sore, as are my arms, but the pain is subsiding...in time for tomorrow's workout!

5) My microwave blew last Friday, and I had to wait 4 days before getting another one that was going on sale. Those days were brutal! You really just don't know how much you depend on quick, hot food until your microwave is gone! I had to resort to pan-heating or toaster-oven-heating or double-boiling all our foods. And the leftovers that went wasted in the meantime? Don't get me started on that...a perfectly good steak down the tube (really...how do you reheat steak without a microwave and not cooking it past well-done? )

6) I went shopping for a birthday gift on the weekend and ended up stopping by Reitman's and bought a cute summer tank that, admittedly, fits awesome. Tried it on in the changing room: hangs nicely? Check. No noticeable flab poking through? Check. Machine washable? Check. Universal colour pattern? Check. Sold!

I have to go do more shopping, now that I can at least camouflage whatever flab I've still got going on! I've got a wedding to attend in a month, and hope to find something good!

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I'm just a girl...who loves a boy, and her two sons and a daughter. A wife and mother, trying to remain sane in this insane world, I throw myself at my computer to escape the nonsense around me, to surf, blog, and shop!